Chapter 94. Comforting the Heartbroken Liu Pingping
After witnessing the scene before her, Liu Pingping numbly retreated downstairs. She never imagined that Su Qingyan’s mysterious boyfriend would turn out to be Li Mo.
Now, everything completely made sense.
So, it had always been Li Mo.
This explained why, even after divorcing Su Xiaoxiao, he had still treated her so well.
When she had mentioned coming to Shencheng, he had rushed to the train station in the middle of the night, more enthusiastic than ever before.
After her arrival, he took her shopping, brought her to his company, and even insisted on bringing her to the West Lake Summit.
At the time, she hadn’t understood why.
But now, she did.
Li Mo had never planned on changing mothers-in-law.
Everything, even her emotions, had been part of his calculations.
Suddenly, his affection for her felt fake, mechanical.
As she mechanically prepared dinner, the entire house felt cold and hollow.
They had deceived her all this time.
Had Li Mo’s feelings for her ever been real?
She had truly come to see him as a son.
But now, she realized it was all a lie.
The betrayal cut deep.
Did he actually care for her as a mother, or was it all just for Qingyan’s sake?
A wave of sadness washed over her, not just because Li Mo had deceived her, but because she could no longer trust the sincerity of his affection.
Dinner in Silence
When the food was served, Li Mo and Su Qingyan came downstairs, carefully maintaining distance.
“Mom, the food is delicious as always!” Su Qingyan praised, oblivious to Liu Pingping’s mood.
But Li Mo noticed.
Liu Pingping looked devastated.
Last time, it had been because of Bai Lulu, he knew she had been jealous.
But this time?
With Su Qingyan present, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
The meal passed in awkward silence.
A Call from Ma Tengyun
After dinner, Li Mo received a call.
“Mr. Mo, QQ Show’s revenue has already surpassed five million, and it’s still growing! This is a billion-yuan market!”
“Mobile QQ’s user base is also expanding rapidly. Our total revenue has exceeded thirty million!”
Ma Tengyun was ecstatic. The era of QQ had truly begun.
“Good,” Li Mo acknowledged simply.
Even that single word of praise made Ma Tengyun feel honored.
“Mr. Mo, Lianzhong Communications is gaining momentum. I can’t wait to see how you deal with them!”
“But more competitors are entering the instant messaging space, NetEase, Sina, Sohu… even smaller firms are trying to steal our market share!”
Yet Ma Tengyun didn’t sound worried, he sounded excited.
Li Mo was puzzled.
“Tengyun, why aren’t you panicking?”
“Because I remember your words: In the internet industry, the winner takes all.”
“QQ’s user base is nearing 100 million. Even if every competitor teamed up against us, what do we have to fear?”
Li Mo stayed silent for a moment before finally praising, “Tengyun, you’ve grown.”
Ma Tengyun, on speakerphone with his core team, beamed with pride.
“Also, Mr. Mo… Jack Ma has entered the instant messaging space.”
“He claims he’ll become the second-largest player within a year. His Alibaba Wangwang already has a solid user base, could he threaten us?”
Li Mo wasn’t surprised.
Jack Ma was ambitious, relentless. He never settled for second place.
“Let him be. Men like Jack Ma can’t be controlled. We’ll help him when he needs it, and take some equity in return.”
“For now, focus on promoting QQ Coins. Soon, you’ll see just how profitable they can be.”
The team cheered. Mr. Mo still had tricks up his sleeve!
After half an hour, Li Mo hung up.
Everything was progressing exactly as he had foreseen.
Once QQ went public, his shares would be worth trillions.
Compared to that, even the 30 billion from crypto would seem like pocket change.
“Jack Ma is a troublemaker… Lei Jun is much easier to handle.”
He smiled, thinking about how Jinshan’s decline would play into his plans.
But then, his thoughts returned to Liu Pingping’s sorrowful expression.
Something had deeply upset her.
He needed to fix this.
Confronting the Truth
Still in his pajamas, Li Mo knocked on Liu Pingping’s door.
“Mom, are you asleep?”
No answer.
He tried the handle, unlocked.
Inside, he found Liu Pingping sitting on the sofa in black stockings, her eyes red from crying.
Her cosmetics had been packed away.
Was she leaving?
Without even telling him?
His heart sank.
This was serious.